Slackline is all the rage, and for a great reason.  There is no better way to improve your balance.  Snowboarders, wakeboarders, surfers and skaters in particular are using this incredible training tool.  Watch out, though!  What starts as a training method can become pretty addictive as a sport of its own.  The new Gibbon Slacklines all include an easy cinch mechanism that anyone can set up in a few minutes without any need for knots, carabiners, etc.  http://www.wiredsport.com/snow/training-fitness-tools.html Check it out:

A current snowboard helmet can be a great way to protect your melon, but there is a lot that you should know about sizing and maintaining a styley new lid.

First off, it is important to understand how the current generation of snowboard helmets works. They are not designed to deflect hard impact and then rebound (a common misconception), but rather to absorb hard impact by allowing the crushing (and permanent destruction) of the stiff protective foam that makes up the helmet's primary structure. The idea is that the foam is damaged but the head is not. I mention this first, because understanding that this damage to the helmet is the very thing that will protect your head is integral to all of the points that will follow.

Trying to get an accurate idea of how a specific board will flex in comparison to others? Watch out! There is more marketing misinformation and straight out nonsense published about flexibility than about most other elements of snowboard fit. Finding the correct flex (stiffness and feel) is crucial, but it won't be found in a single number printed on a fit chart.

Anyone ever tell you that your snowboard bindings are as important as your board when it comes to performance? Uhh huh, uhh huh, thought so. Pretty good info actually. Bindings are your link to the board and if they're not working for you, that new Shawn Kass pro model won't make a bit of difference. That said, bindings have come a long way in the last 5 years, and these days even many basic binding models have great adjustability and the potential for a highly customized fit. But are you using the adjustability that is available, and if so, are you using it correctly? Dialing in your bindings with that extra little bit of tweaking can entirely change your riding experience and can unlock a level of comfort and performance that you may have been missing before.

If you live long enough, you get to hear some mighty strange things. If you live long enough where it snows, you get to hear some mighty strange things about snowboard stance. Does it seem like no one agrees with each other? Sure it does. So...there is always some hesitation to write down anything about stance, because whatever you say will certainly not please everyone. With that in mind, let's do it anyways. Let's talk about the elements of stance, what the options are and what you gain and lose from each.

Board sizing has always been a little tricky, but in the past, there have been a small group of readily available stats that have been very useful for comparison and selection by knowledgeable riders. One of those has been Running Length (AKA Contact Length).

As we have written many times, overall board length is a commonly considered, but almost useless measurement. Why? Because the shape and dimensions of a board's raised tip and tail can vary greatly and have next to no impact on the way the board will ride.

How wide of a snowboard do I need?  Where is the width of a snowboard measured?  What does width mean in terms of my boot  size?

Let’s start by talking about measurements, because this is where a lot of the confusion arises.  The most common width measurement that is provided by manufacturers is "waist".  The waist is measured at the narrowest point near the middle of the board (usually). But like with all things in snowboarding, different brands measure different things. Some measure  the midpoint between the tip and tail and call that "waist". Others simply provide a measurement they call, "width", but do not really specify what width they are referring to.

With young female riders being the fastest growing segment of the snowboard market and with almost half of our snowboard sales last year going to women, you can bet we are interested in what is going on in terms of gear and technology for this demographic.  By far, the question we get asked most frequently on this topic is, "is there really any difference between a men's and a women's snowboard?"  The Short answer is Yes, Yes, Yes.  There was a time when this was not the case....

It is rare to go into a snowboard shop these days without hearing some truly imaginative sales information regarding snowboard sidewalls.  This design feature may be the single most debated (and frequently changed) aspect of the snowboard, and yet there is no consensus about what really works best. 

So what is a sidewall, what are the different types and why do they matter?  The sidewall is...

Finally!  The season is almost here, and your brand new board is sitting by idly, not-so-patiently waiting for the resorts to get a little more of that sacred white stuff, and open up at least a few early season runs.   But...Is your board ready?  Sure, it looks nice, and it has all of the latest and greatest technology, but what's the real story?  Do factories send out their boards ready to ride or do they still need a little luv'n before they are really prepped for the hill?

The answer will depend on...

It might seem that there are a lot of new terms and new technologies floating around in the snowboard world these days, but what are these new developments...and are they really new at all?  First off let’s look at the terms and developments.  Camber refers to the most conventional snowboard design, where there is a little "bowing" to the board so as that the area just under the bindings is slightly lifted off of the snow when the board has no weight on it.  Rocker (also called reverse camber) boards have a banana shape with the center (waist) being the low point and a gradual rise up to the lifted tip and tail.  "Spoons" can be used on either rocker or traditional camber boards and  have an area at the tip and tail where the edges are raised above the center of the base so that when the board is laying flat the edges are not in contact with the snow (the tip and tail have a spoon shape when viewed from above, thus the name).  So is any of this actually new and how does it help or hurt the ride?